Democracy is an illusion! It’s become a political system fostered by the élite, for the élite, in order to fool the people that they have a stake in the system. In actual fact, they have virtually none. The whole political system in the modern era, despite having noble beginnings, is now used to benefit the few at the expense of the many. – Mark Alexander, June 29, 2018
Cenk Uygur host of The Young Turks interviews entrepreneur, venture capitalist, activist, troublemaker and self-described “Patriotic Progressive” Nick Hanauer.
Nick Hanauer is a rich guy, an unrepentant capitalist — and he has something to say to his fellow plutocrats: Wake up! Growing inequality is about to push our societies into conditions resembling pre-revolutionary France. Hear his argument about why a dramatic increase in minimum wage could grow the middle class, deliver economic prosperity ... and prevent a revolution.
On Reality Asserts Itself, Thomas Frank says the Democratic Party must acknowledge that in 2008 the crash and the discrediting of Bush, created conditions for much a more progressive policy - but Obama did not step up; with host Paul Jay
Bitcoin has had an interesting 2017 with some steep rises - and falls - in value. Many see it as a mere speculative financial instrument rather than a genuine digital currency, but should we now take it seriously? The BBC's Asia business correspondent Karishma Vaswani takes a look at the year of Bitcoin. Produced by Christine Hah.
A recent study shows how much the Republican tax cuts having impacted wealth distriubtion through the decades. Cenk Uygur, the host of The Young Turks, breaks it down.
Switzerland may not be a member of the European Union, but its president wants to hold a referendum on her country’s relationship with Brussels. Switzerland and Brussels fell out last week when the EU decided to set a one-year limit on Swiss stock exchanges’ access to the EU.
here have been sharp rises in the value of cryptocurrencies, this year. But their falls have also been spectacular. The price of Bitcoin has dropped to below the 13,000-dollar threshold, after hitting all-time-highs of more than 20,000 over the weekend.
Congressional Republicans have approved their tax bill, a massive upward transfer of wealth that fulfills a decades-long right-wing goal of permanent tax cuts for corporations. We speak to professor and author Bill Black
The House of Representatives putting the final touches on a tax reform bill that's been characterized in some quarters as a whopping big Christmas present to the rich. Despite public opinion opposing the plan by a two-to-one margin, Republicans rallying behind legislation that should most notably slash the corporate tax rate from 35 to 21 percent. It's about the one issue where Trump and a majority of Republicans agree: the role of government.
The digital currency Bitcoin has been making headlines this week after a huge increase in value, but ministers are to introduce tighter regulations on the virtual currency over concerns it is being used to launder money and dodge tax. Daily Politics reporter Emma Vardy looks at how some MPs believe the government should help bring digital currencies into the mainstream, and say it could have advantages for public services.
The digital currency Bitcoin has moved from the fringes to more of the mainstream in the past few weeks, mostly because its value has risen at such an extraordinary rate. And just like a surging stock, it's left a lot of people wishing they'd either got in earlier, or wondering how they can jump on board now.
But as ever, there are questions about how safe it is, how to regulate something which by its very nature is decentralised, and if it is just another bubble waiting to burst. So, what is behind the sudden rise in value of Bitcoin?
Presenter: Kamahl Santamaria | Guests: Garrett Hileman - Economic Historian at the University of Cambridge and London School of Economics; David Vaile - Co-convenor of the Cyberspace Law and Policy Centre at the University of New South Wales; Joerg Platzer - Owner of Room 77, a restaurant and bar that first accepted Bitcoin in 2011
The increasingly popular digital currency, Bitcoin, has made its debut on a major US exchange. On Monday, futures trading of the virtual money started in the Chicago Board of Exchange. Interest was so high that the board's website crashed due to heavy traffic. Al Jazeera's Patty Culhane reports from Washington, DC.
Greece is "coming out of the crisis with a more polarized society, with an opened gap between the rich and the poor," says economic scholar John Milios
British farmers are being hit by a shortage of migrant workers and are warning a dysfunctional Brexit will have a devastating impact on their industry. They are calling on the government to provide direction and answers on the future of British farming after the U.K. leaves the European Union. Bloomberg’s Angus Bennett travelled to Kent, in Southern England, to meet the farmers and migrant workers on the front lines of Brexit. Video by Angus Bennett and Gloria Kurnik
Historian Peter Kuznick says the New Deal created necessary programs and regulations that mitigated the effects of the Great Depression, but he wouldn’t nationalize the bank’s or challenge private ownership
"I think bitcoin is more robust because we cannot depend on Satoshi [Nakamoto, creator of bitcoin] to say, 'Hey, Satoshi, what do we do with the block size?'" says Wences Casares, founder of the bitcoin wallet Xapo. "I think that would be a weaker bitcoin."
Casares is an entrepreneur who brought the first internet service provider to his home country of Argentina and then launched the mega successful online brokerage firm Patagon. So people listen when he says that bitcoin "may change the world more than the Internet did."
Reason TV's Zach Weissmueller sat down with Casares in Xapo's San Francisco headquarters and discussed the state of bitcoin, why he believes that bitcoin's core technology needs modification to increase block size, and why such a modification doesn't threaten the future of the crypotcurrency as some critics fear. They also discussed how bitcoin can help people in developing countries to protect themselves against hyperinflation, why he believes that everyone should own a little (but not too much) bitcoin, and why Xapo stores its bitcoin private keys in vaults underneath the Swiss Alps.
Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss sit down with John Biggs to discuss Wall Street's attitude toward bitcoin, their new bitcoin exchange, and their bitcoin-based exchange traded fund.
Xapo's Wences Casares will convince you that Bitcoin is the most important social experiment of our time. 5,000 years after the birth of the old gold standard, this new and accessible alternative is here to stay.
Wences Casares, co-founder and CEO of Bitcoin firm Xapo, sits down with WSJ's Evelyn Rusli to talk about Bitcoin's potential for investment growth and solutions to foreign currency exchange problems.
The 'Insane and opaque' Tax bill had no hearings, no independent experts, only lobbyists informed this bill. It will blow up the deficit and gut social programs, explains economist and white collar criminologist, Bill Black
The digital currency Bitсoin, once a toy for computer nerds, is now soaring in price, triggering a new gold rush. Is it just another bubble, or a glimpse into a radically different financial future? We ask Rick Falkvinge, CEO of BitCoin Cash and founder of the Swedish Pirate Party.
Britain and the European Union say they are confident of reaching an agreement on Brexit withdrawal terms, despite no deal being announced on Monday. Among the main issues yet to be agreed, is what the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland will look like.
Bitcoin – for some it is the perfect marriage of technology and finance. For others it is a ‘get rich’ scheme. Though no one can deny its market value is soaring and becoming an attractive alternative to the current global banking system. Is bitcoin revolutionizing the world? CrossTalking with Mitch Feierstein, Jeffrey Tucker, and Garrick Hileman.
Nov.29 -- Former Greece Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis discusses Brexit negotiations, his recommendations around Brexit, the Irish border issue, Emmanuel Macron's policies for France, EU common budget and his outlook for Greece. He speaks on "Bloomberg Markets: European Open."
The former prime minister says the Brexit process is doing economic and political damage. Speaking on Friday, Blair says stagnating living standards are causing a change in public opinion on Brexit
In the updated edition of Nobel Prize winning economist Joseph Stiglitz’s new book, “Globalization and Its Discontents Revisited: Anti-Globalization in the Era of Trump,” he argues that when Trump became president, he “threw a hand grenade into the global economic order.” We speak with Stiglitz about the impact of free trade agreements that Trump has criticized.
Nobel Prize winning economist Joseph Stiglitz joins us to critique the Republican tax plan that could face a vote as early as Friday. The sweeping legislation would overhaul the tax code in order to shower billions of dollars in tax cuts upon the richest Americans, including President Trump’s own family, and repeal the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate. Stiglitz is a Columbia University professor, and chief economist for the Roosevelt Institute. He served as chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers under President Bill Clinton.
